At a symposium on the side of the recent Commonwealth Conference of University Leaders in Accra Ghana, Vice-Chancellors from the DRUSSA universities resolved to continue to provide strategic support for the consolidation of research uptake into institutional systems and processes and individuals’ key research process competencies.

They agreed that the organizational change practices that have taken place in each of the twenty two universities who have participated in the programme are of sufficient value that it is worth maintaining the network that has grown up between them.

"research culture needs to be supportive of research uptake and this can be fostered by shaping systems and policies to motivate and reward academics whose evidence is recognized"

Four strategic factors were identified as being key to realizing a five-year goal to have research uptake fully integrated in the university enterprise :

Universities must have robust mechanisms in place to sustain dialogues and relationships with important external stakeholders; notably the research needs and relevance of research as perceived by government bodies and funders of research and development.

Universities must ensure that there are systems in place to validate the quality and integrity of research evidence that is to influence policy and practice

Universities’ research culture needs to be supportive of research uptake and this can be fostered by shaping systems and policies to motivate and reward academics whose evidence is recognized and taken up.

Universities’ must provide professional research communication services that support researchers to identify, engage, communicate and disseminate their research evidence.

The Vice-Chancellors resolved to form a pressure group to champion research uptake with funders, science councils and academies of science, and with regional research bodies such as the regional Research and Innovation Management Associations, the Association of African Universities, the African Research Universities Association and Vice-Chancellors associations.

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